TS ISO 12620

TS ISO 12620 is a standard concerned with how data categories used in terminology resources are defined, documented, harmonized, and maintained. In terminology management, a data category gives a consistent way to describe a property or piece of information attached to an entry, and this standard addresses the framework needed to keep those descriptions coherent across resources.

Why data category specifications matter

In terminology and language resources, a data category may represent an attribute, field, or characteristic such as term, definition, language, usage note, source, context, or subject field. The standard focuses not only on naming such elements, but also on describing their content, relationships, and formal specification in a structured way. This supports interoperability between terminology databases, dictionaries, and other language resource systems.

What the document addresses

• creation of data category specifications
• documentation and harmonization of those specifications
• maintenance within a data category repository
• guidance on the structure and content of a data category specification
• a shared framework for researchers and practitioners working with language resources

In general technical terms, well-defined data category specifications are essential for exchanging, storing, and reusing terminology data. When a category name alone is not enough, the definition, data type, allowed values, and intended use must be treated together. TS ISO 12620 supports that disciplined handling of terminology metadata. This record refers to a withdrawn edition of the standard, while its subject remains the management and organization of terminology-resource data categories.